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kuranes's review against another edition
4.0
A few stories I've read before in Best Horror of the Year collections, but very enjoyable overall!
jdcorley's review against another edition
dark
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Quite a mix between the traditional Lovecraft tale and the darkly fantastic which have somewhat overtaken the tribute field in the last decade. Some (Barron in particular) are just a sluice of whatever they can think of, but most (including a harrowing descent into a decrepit mine) are both sympathetic and chilling. A truly excellent collection, well curated.
kurbanski's review
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
thisotherbookaccount's review
A largely disappointing read, with halfway decent short stories few and far in between. When the writing isn't clunky and awkward, the stories fail to capture any real sense of horror or atmosphere — two things that I have come to expect from any Lovecraftian tale. Maybe there is a reason why I have never heard of most of the authors featured here.
jonmhansen's review
3.0
Three and a half stars. The stories are well written and enjoyable(!) in general. The biggest problem with many of the first person stories is that the narrators are insane. A first person narrative with an unreliable narrator who's crazy does not do the best job of making it clear what is happening in the story. Ah well.
naokamiya's review
3.0
A solid compilation of gothic, cosmic and otherwise weird fiction that is unfortunately made uneven to a detrimental extent by a number of duds that drag down the collection's quality as a whole. "The Secret of Insects" is a boring and uninspired take on Nyarlathotep with little in the way of gripping prose, "Nesters" kind of just painfully *average*, and "Mortensen's Muse" - the worst offender of the bunch - is a dry, half-baked story which makes no attempt to hide being a shameless rehash of Lovecraft's "Pickman's Model". These stories did little to sway me and I found myself checking the page count of my Kindle whenever I was reading them.
However, I'm pleased that those three tales are the only notable drag-downs on this otherwise great collection. John Langan continues to impress me with "The Supplement", a non-horrific but very poignantly written tale of quiet grief that ties in both thematically and mythologically with "The Fisherman", and if "Frontier Death Song" didn't convince me already, Laird Barron's "Oblivion Mode" continuingly sells me on the man's writing chops when I hadn't been entirely convinced before; it's a deliriously wild, imaginative cosmic horror story set in an alt-Earth medieval fantasy backdrop. Caitlin R. Kiernan's contribution is also an expected highlight, working up their surreal and hypnotizing prose as well as their interest in portraying a climate change-wracked future to a fever-pitch in a story about a cursed, ancient relic from the dark depths of the ocean. Other highlights include "Mr. Doornail", a story told in charismatic fairy-tale prose, "When the Stitches Come Undone", a tale of disquieting folk horror, and "On These Blackened Shores of Time", a highly human, emotional, and terrifying tale that has in one story convinced me Brian Hodge is a name I should look out for.
So because of those stories this gets a recommendation from me, and the good entries really are good enough to warrant labeling this "great" and the stories I didn't mention are also well enough. Sadly, the uninteresting tales here do enough to slant the overall momentum of this anthology into a more middling direction.
However, I'm pleased that those three tales are the only notable drag-downs on this otherwise great collection. John Langan continues to impress me with "The Supplement", a non-horrific but very poignantly written tale of quiet grief that ties in both thematically and mythologically with "The Fisherman", and if "Frontier Death Song" didn't convince me already, Laird Barron's "Oblivion Mode" continuingly sells me on the man's writing chops when I hadn't been entirely convinced before; it's a deliriously wild, imaginative cosmic horror story set in an alt-Earth medieval fantasy backdrop. Caitlin R. Kiernan's contribution is also an expected highlight, working up their surreal and hypnotizing prose as well as their interest in portraying a climate change-wracked future to a fever-pitch in a story about a cursed, ancient relic from the dark depths of the ocean. Other highlights include "Mr. Doornail", a story told in charismatic fairy-tale prose, "When the Stitches Come Undone", a tale of disquieting folk horror, and "On These Blackened Shores of Time", a highly human, emotional, and terrifying tale that has in one story convinced me Brian Hodge is a name I should look out for.
So because of those stories this gets a recommendation from me, and the good entries really are good enough to warrant labeling this "great" and the stories I didn't mention are also well enough. Sadly, the uninteresting tales here do enough to slant the overall momentum of this anthology into a more middling direction.
deadnberried's review
5.0
An absolutely excellent collection of stories and styles, united by body horror, forbidden knowledge, and teeming realities pressing against the ever-thinning membrane of our world.